Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has formally written a letter to Senator Mitch McConnell asking him to update the people of Kentucky on whether he is, you know, still functioning. As Trending Politics reported, the 84 year old Republican has been hospitalized since June 14, and his office has shared approximately zero useful details about what happened or how he is doing.
When your governor has to write you a formal letter asking if you are okay, things have probably gone sideways. Beshear, a Democrat, penned the request on Wednesday, writing that "over the last several weeks, Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing, and ability to hold office in the United States Senate." He then asked McConnell to "fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health." The letter closed with "We wish you a safe and speedy recovery," which is the political equivalent of ending a passive aggressive text with a smiley face.
Here is what we do know. On June 14, emergency medical personnel responded to a report of an unconscious person at McConnell's home, according to a public EMS dispatch call reviewed by CBS News. McConnell's office has not confirmed whether the dispatch call involved the senator, which is quite a stance to take when the call came from his address and he then ended up in the hospital that same day. His office also did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, continuing their strategy of saying absolutely nothing and hoping everyone forgets.
Senate Republican leaders have tried to calm things down by saying they spoke with McConnell earlier this week. A spokeswoman for Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the number two Senate Republican, said McConnell "was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate." Eager to get back. The man has been in the hospital for nearly a month and we are getting secondhand book reviews of his mental state from Wyoming.
Beshear noted in a separate statement that the silence has allowed speculation to grow unchecked, adding that this "is not fair to the Senator or to Kentuckians." He has a point. When a sitting senator vanishes into a hospital and his staff responds to every inquiry with the communication skills of a broken fax machine, people are going to start guessing. And those guesses are rarely optimistic.
McConnell is not seeking reelection but has vowed to serve out his term, which runs into early next year. His health has been under scrutiny for a while now, including a 2023 fall that caused a concussion and two separate freezing episodes during press conferences that were viewed by roughly everyone on the internet.
If McConnell does leave office early, Kentucky law now requires a special election rather than giving the governor appointment power. The Republican legislature passed that change in 2024, overriding Beshear's veto. So there is no political power play here for Beshear. He just wants someone, preferably the senator himself, to tell voters what is going on. That does not seem like a lot to ask after four weeks of radio silence.
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